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Queensland leave Blues Marooned

Written by: Marc Howard
Jun 11, 2008 10:58pm

The always proud Maroons of Queensland have kept a disappointing New South Wales side scoreless for the second time in their State Of Origin history, however no performance has been more convincing than tonights 30 points to nil drubbing at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, in front of a sell-out crowd of 52,416.

While Queensland know all too well what it's like to be kept from crossing the opposition tryline (8-0 in 1990 & 14-0 in 1994), tonight they were methodical in their dominance, Johnson, Crocker & Harrison putting that extra feeling into their tackles, Thurston & Prince combining perfectly to steer a well drilled team around the park, never giving the Blues a clean look at the Maroon tryline.

Mark Gasnier would have no doubt been very happy after Origin 1, but tonight he was up against the attacking flair of Greg Inglis, who left both Gasnier and Turner in his wake as he strode down field to send debutant winger Darius Boyd in for his first Origin try in the 7th minute. 15 minutes later and the same 2 Queenslanders combined in a carbon copy of the first try, handing Boyd a double on debut, a headache for Gasnier and Turner and a smile as big as the Story Bridge for Inglis and the Queensland crowd.

Constant Maroon pressure and several New South Wales errors led to 2 penalties being converted by Thurston to give Queensland a 16-0 lead going into halftime. A third penalty goal after the restart put the lead out to 3 converted tries until the 63rd minute when Ben Hannant joined the scorers list, barging over from close range through attempted tackles by Gasnier and Mason. After Scott Prince chipped over the top for a flying Israel Folau to collect his second Origin try, the series was level at 1-all and Queensland had finally showed the form that saw them installed as firm favourites prior to Origin 1 in Sydney.

Queensland were best served by Thurston and Prince, the latter enjoying a superb return to rep footy. Inglis and Tate shone out wide, but without the forwards doing their job the 30-0 scoreline wouldn't have been made possible, hence every Queensland forward put their hand up tonight and washed themselves clean of a less than flattering performance in Game 1.

The combination of Bird and Wallace struggled all night for New South Wales, mostly due to pressure applied by great Maroon defence. Kurt Gidley came on from the interchange bench and tried to spark a revival, but with such dominant opposition and an apparent lack of cohesion between the men in blue jerseys his task seemed almost impossible right from the get-go.

Any changes for Game III for the Maroons should only be brought about by suspension or injury, as well as the possible return of Darren Lockyer, however Prince did nothing tonight to suggest that he is out of his depth at this elite level. One would expect the New South Wales selectors to make a number of changes, particularly in the halves as well as selecting more noted frontrowers to start the match both on the field and from the bench.

Match Details
Queensland 30 def New South Wales 0
State Of Origin 2 - June 11th, 2008 8:00pm
Venue: Suncorp Stadium
Referee: Tony Archer
Half time: Queensland 16-0
Crowd: 52,416

Queensland (30)
Tries: Darius Boyd (2), Ben Hannant, Israel Folau
Goals: Johnathan Thurston (7/7)
New South Wales (0)

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match
3 Points: Greg Inglis (Maroons)
2 Points: Scott Prince (Maroons)
1 Point: Brent Tate (Maroons)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

TEAMS
QLD: 14. Karmichael Hunt 2. Darius Boyd 3. Greg Inglis 4. Brent Tate 5. Israel Folau 6. Johnathan Thurston 7. Scott Prince 8. Steve Price 9. Cameron Smith (c) 10. Petero Civoniceva 11. Michael Crocker 17. Ashley Harrison 13. Dallas Johnson Interchange: 1. Billy Slater 12. Sam Thaiday 15. Ben Hannant 16. Nate Myles

NSW: 1. Brett Stewart 2. Steve Turner 3. Mark Gasnier 4. Matt Cooper 5. Anthony Quinn 6. Greg Bird 7. Peter Wallace 8. Brett White 9. Danny Buderus (c) 10. Craig Fitzgibbon 11. Willie Mason 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Paul Gallen Interchange: 14. Kurt Gidley 15. Anthony Laffranchi 16. Steve Simpson 17. Anthony Tupou

REFEREES
Referee: Tony Archer
Touch Judges: Gerard Sutton, Russell Turner
Video Referees: Bill Harrigan, Tim Mander

Welcome to LeagueUnlimited.com's Live Update of Game II in State Of Origin for 2008, live from Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane. The weather for tonights game is nothing short of perfect for night footy, the current temperature is sitting at 19.0°C, with no wind to speak of and no sign of rain.

There are some late changes to the Queensland starting XIII, Karmichael Hunt and Ashley Harrison will start the match at fullback and second row respectively, with Billy Slater and Sam Thaiday moving to the interchange bench. Debuting for the Maroons is Darius Boyd, replacing the suspended Justin Hodges.

The New South Wales team will line up as per program, with the only debutant being Steve Turner, coming in for the suspended Jarryd Hayne.
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0 min: NSW kicks off and Origin II is underway

1 min: First penalty after 35 seconds of play, for slowing down the play-the-ball.

5 min: An attacking chip kick from Scott Prince goes dead in-goal, NSW get the restart from their own 20 metre line.

7 min: TRY Queensland
Greg Inglis makes a mockery of the right hand side defence of NSW to put debutant Darius Boyd in for his maiden Origin try. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Queensland 6-0

11 min: A second Prince chip goes dead once again, NSW with the restart, their first penalty follows soon after

13 min: NSW put up an attacking bomb to Israel Folau's wing but the youngster flies high and comes down with a great take

17 min: NSW receive their second penalty and with it they have good field position, 20 metres out from the QLD line

19 min: Thurston is tackled in the QLD in-goal area, NSW will get a second set of 6 from the goal-line dropout

20 min: The pressure is relieved as Paul Gallen drops the ball cold

21 min: TRY Queensland
It's a virtual replay of the first try as the ball goes wide to Inglis who once again puts Boyd away for his second. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Queensland 12-0

24 min: Karmichael Hunt has dropped Greg Bird with a massive shoulder charge, dislodging the ball and giving QLD a great chance

26 min: The Blues get a very much needed penalty to move out of their danger zone for the time being, QLD are all over them at this stage

32 min: PENALTY GOAL Queensland
Thurston converts a penalty after being knocked over in backplay
Queensland 14-0

33 min: Mark Gasnier's night looks like being one to forget as he drops the ball in the tackle, QLD on the attack again

35 min: The Blues are caught with the ball on the 6th tackle in supreme field position

39 min: PENALTY GOAL Queensland
Thurston knocks over an easy penalty shot to give Queensland a daunting lead before halftime.
Queensland 16-0

40 min: The first half ends with the Blues kicking the ball dead in-goal, finishing off a nightmare first 40 for the men south of the border. Queensland, in particular Greg Inglis, are having a blinder in front of their own crowd, New South Wales will have to pull out something extra special to get out of this one.

41 min: QLD get us started for the second half

42 min: NSW concede a 5th tackle penalty for another ruck infringement, Maroons on the attack

43 min: Hoffman is picked up and driven back to his own in-goal, referee Archer called held during the tackle, NSW receive a relieving penalty, only to drop the ball a few rucks down the field

47 min: Cam Smith grubbers for Inglis but Steve Turner wins the race only to be tackled in his own goal, Blues restart with a goal-line dropout

48 min: Inglis stands Turner up to almost score in the corner, with only some desperate cover coming across to clean up the situation

50 min: Half an hour to go, time is fast running out for NSW

51 min: QLD get yet another penalty for a ruck infringement, they now have the chance to put this baby to bed

52 min: Mason strips the ball from Ben Hannant right in front of the goalposts, Thurston can headbutt this one over if he wants to

53 min: PENALTY GOAL Queensland
Willie Mason gives away a silly penalty right in front of his own sticks, Thurston steps up to keep his 100% record intact
Queensland 18-0

58 min: NSW have their best chance of the 2nd half, a scrum feed 20 metres out from the QLD line

59 min: With nothing doing, Gidley kicks the ball into touch in a moment of poor execution. 20 minutes to go and QLD are in cruise control

60 min: Mason makes a great bust, bumping his way downfield, only to spill the pill at the end of it all

61 min: Darius Boyd scores in the corner, only to be called back for a Slater forward pass. Even with enough time left on the clock to make something out of this match, NSW are on the rack

63 min: VIDEO REFEREE - Possible try to Ben Hannant

64 min: TRY Queensland
Ben Hannant barges over from close range to score his first Origin try, despite the attention of Gasnier and Mason. The decision was referred to the Video Referee who in turn handed the decision back to on-field referee Archer, who allowed the try. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Queensland 24-0

69 min: VIDEO REFEREE - Possible try to Israel Folau

69 min: TRY Queensland
Scott Prince chips over Anthony Quinn for Israel Folau to storm through and score his second Origin try from as many starts. Conversion attempt by Johnathan Thurston successful.
Queensland 30-0

70 min: Peter Wallace leaves the field of play.

74 min: The cue is in the rack for QLD, Thurston is replaced by Thaiday and they are on the attack again after a Blues dropped ball

75 min: A sell-out crowd of 52416 is announced

76 min: Karmichael Hunt has a shot at field goal, and the result is a dead-set Barry Crocker. Restart to the Blues at their own 20

78 min: Play is held up for a blood bin to Nate Myles, NSW on the attack

78 min: Brent Tate makes a clean bust from a NSW spilled ball, running 70 metres down field. He passes to Boyd who passes to Crocker who knocks on

80 min: Game (officially) over. Scott Prince kicks into touch to kill the ball and level the series at 1 win apiece.

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